Page 3 of The Song of the Void

“Oh, the Humans allowed Druinns to retain their armies? That's surprising.”

Shaddan hummed, amber eyes glowing like the bubbly champagne carried by a servant that hurried past us. There was a hint of mischief and conspiracy in his voice as he leaned closer to whisper, “Well, what the Humans don't know won't hurt them. Not right away, at least.”

I met his grin with one of my own, but even a shared hatred of Humans wouldn't bring me to trust this stranger. Not yet. I gave him an awkward curtsy thanks to my chafing gown. “Zephra Yukaris of the Abyssal Deep.”

“I'll admit, Zephra, I'm curious…What in the Mourner Hell is a Siren doing here, of all places?”

I grimaced. An accurately detailed answer about why I was in Arvensis would probably require a great length of time and stronger alcohol than could be found at this silly party. My eyes roved around the room to the ridiculous grandeur of the white pillars, the velvet-carpeted staircase leading to the second floor, and the gaudy golden decorations. Shaddan probably despised the extravagance they demonstrated as much as I did.

“Well, you see, General, I entertain at Nightwhisper, but the Circle of Gold paid for me to perform my services here tonight.” As usual, I spat my sad truths with a smile.

“Oh… They paid for you to sing here? Would you sing the Song of the Void?”

My heart jumped out of my chest. Now this—this made more sense. Surely a Druinn would help me escape in exchange for information that could lead to enough power to make the Humans pay for their misdeeds. Maybe the plot brewing behind Shaddan’s eyes was the same as mine.

Destroy them all.

I silently thanked Jereq for actually doing what I paid him for and apologized for all the times I thought he was nothing but a lazy skirt chaser.

Unfortunately, those servants who scattered at Shaddan’s behest had sent guards in their place to reprimand me. One, who held his polished helm beneath his arm, took the lead. “Siren, I’m going to need you to come with me.”

“Come now,” Shaddan interrupted. “No need to haul her away for an honest mistake. Sometimes the magic that runs through us non-Humans’ veins tends to be…tricky to control.”

He put his left hand behind his back and clenched it into a fist. The helm under the guard’s arm crushed in on itself and clattered to the ground in a rain of golden shards, as if an invisible metal press had squashed it with a ridiculous amount of weight. The Human guard stuttered and stared wide-eyed at his ruined helmet while Shaddan merely shook his head at his right hand as if it had betrayed him.

“Oops.”

“Y-you were warned not to use your magic while here!” the guard stammered, drawing his sword with a grate of steel. More metallic scraping followed soon after as the rest of the guards did the same. One pointed his rifle right at Shaddan’s head.

“Relax. Nobody died,” Shaddan hissed, dropping the air of a well-bred gentleman for one of a wrathful soldier. “Put your toys away.”

With an almost imperceptible twitch of his finger, Shaddan’s magic seized control of the weapons brandished in his direction, ripping them out of the guards’ hands to float in the air. The blades turned towards the Humans of their own accord—or rather, Shaddan’s accord—and I almost expected to see them drive themselves into the guards’ bodies. That was how I heard the Druinns nearly won the war, with how easily they could take control of anything metal.

Until the mysterious hero known as the Timebreaker came along to ruin everything.

But Shaddan was merciful, and instead forced the swords back into their sheaths, sending the guards staggering at the sudden awkward impact at their belts. With a tilt of the general’s head, every piece of metal in the room quivered with energy. The silver cutlery, the ladies’ jewelry, and even the golden chandelier high above heeded his power, in the same manner the water obeyed me.

“Not to worry. After I’ve had a word with the Siren, I’ll leave.” Shaddan gave them a fake, friendly smile.

The guards barely hid their relief behind shaky nods, and the magic that laced the air dissipated. Everyone attempted to return to their own business as the guards herded the seething elderly woman I had accidentally splashed into a side room. They seemed to prefer her curses over being stabbed with their own swords or having their metal armor crush them like grapes.

“Fucking Humans,” Shaddan muttered.

One of my favorite phrases.

He slowly retrieved a golden ring, the size of a bracelet or choker, from his pocket. “I should tell you, Zephra, I ran into your friend again today. The one that gave me the message from you. It took some…persuasion…but he divulged a bit more than your cryptic note. And he mentioned you are the final, most important piece of the puzzle that leads to the Voidtome.”

The air iced over, far colder than the fountain water.

My skin rippled with numbness that made my fingers tremble. I went to step backwards away from him, but he seized my wrist faster than a shark after its prey. My cry died in my throat when he began to murmur words in a language I didn’t recognize. A chant of some kind. Darkness curled around the edges of my vision.

Cold metal clamped in a tight circle around my neck and a brassy tang swept through the air. It threw me off balance, alarm blooming in my chest at the metal ring that disappeared from his palm to manifest around my neck. No hinge or clasp.

Shaddan at least had the decency to glance my way, not a trace of pity or regret in his battle-hardened gaze.

“I don’t give a damn about you and your freedom, Siren. If I have to drag you to Hell with me to get my people their retribution, then so be it.”

I gaped at Shaddan, adrenaline flooding my veins. Run. I had to run. Or maybe I should scream. The cold metal around my neck was somehow worse than being stuck behind glass walls. I just knew it. The chatter of the guests behind me faded into nothing. All I heard were the quiet, foreign words spilling from Shaddan’s lips.